


The Fool in the City

by pico_chulo



Series: Suou AU [1]
Category: Persona 5
Genre: Demiromantic Akira, Maya Amano & Katsuya Suou are the parents of Persona 5 Protagonist, Suou AU, asexual akira, no beta we die like men
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-27
Updated: 2020-07-27
Packaged: 2021-03-06 02:40:09
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 2,725
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25555978
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/pico_chulo/pseuds/pico_chulo
Summary: Akira Suou was polite. Akira Suou did well in school. Akira Suou did what he was asked. Yet here he was, stuck in Tokyo for a year because of one mistake.AU where Akira is the son of Katsuya Suou and Maya Amano (from Persona 2). (No real crossover outside of that)
Series: Suou AU [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1851928
Kudos: 26





	1. Arrival to Tokyo

**Author's Note:**

> This work serves as a basis for my personal canon for more works.

_Finally in Tokyo,_ Akira thought as he stepped off of the train and headed into the city, looking at his phone for directions. The dark hair teen, pulled over into a safe corner and took a moment to stare off into the sea of people.

Sumaru City wasn’t nearly this crowded. He thought as he glanced down back on his phone. Not even ten minutes into his stay here and Akira was already lost on where to go. As he searched through his phone for any notes that he had on where to go, he felt his chest twist. _Crap did I delete it?_ He sighed and went to text his dad. Unlike Akira, he was always good with directions.

Akira swiped through his apps to find messenger, but paused as he noticed an app with a red and black icon of an eye. _When did I download this?_ Curious he pressed the app. It did nothing... at least until he glanced up.

The world around him went quiet. Everything had frozen into place. People stuck in their positions. He looked in the center of the crowd, spotting a column of blue flame. Within it he could see… something… some kind of face with in it. _What?_ He blinked and then the world suddenly returned to normal. He glanced down to find that he had sent a message.

**Akira: Hey do you remember where my guardian lives?**

He moved away from the messenger and looked for the app that he had seen before… but it was gone. _I must be really tired if I'm already daydreaming._

**Dad: The Yongen-jaya Block. His name Sojiro Sakura.**

His father sent a link to the address. Akira sighed relieved.

**Akira: Thanks.**

**Dad: Remember to talk to your mother when your settled.**

**Akira: Will do.**

Akira placed his phone into his pocket and went to look for a few signs. With several wrong turns, Akira arrived to the residence. Cautiously he rung the doorbell. Nothing. Akira sighed and tried again, growing even more nervous. He sighed and went to text his father again.

“Looks like no one’s home.” Someone spoke out loud. Akira glanced over to see a delivery man. “Right... Sakura-san’s usually at his café around this time.” The delivery man muttered under his breath.

 _Café?_ He might have recalled that bit of information about his future guardian, though he also wasn’t entirely sure. The deliveryman walked away before Akira could ask any follow up questions. _Maybe it’s in this area?_ Akira walked around for a bit.

The very few people who were there were nice enough to give him some directions. It was actually a quaint little area. Akira wondered if he closed his eyes, could he pretend he was back home.

 _Café Leblanc._ That was the name that Akira had learned. It was settled in a strange corner along an alley way. Akira didn't think it was the best location for the Café, but at least it seemed nice enough. With a deep breath, Akira entered the café.

The café was rather cozy with a small line of booths across from the bar where an older man was reading a newspaper. The older man glanced up to Akira, a little surprised. “Oh right,” he placed a newspaper onto the counter and straightened up. “They did say that was today.”

An older couple stood up from their seats and turned to the man at the counter. “We’ll be going now. The payment’s on the table.”

The man nodded. “Thanks for coming.”

With quiet nods, the couple left the café. The manager gave a sigh and rubbed the back of his head.

“Four hours for a single cup of joe.” He sighed and then finally turned to Akira. “So you’re Akira Suou?” Akira nodded and bowed.

“Yes. Thank you for taking care of me.” He spoke politely. 

“Uh-huh.” The man seemed skeptical of Akira's calm demeanor. “I’m Sojiro Sakura. You’ll be in my custody over the next year.” Sojiro gave a quick glance over at Akira and gave a faint smile. “I was wondering what kind of unruly kid would show up, but you’re the one, huh?” He sighed. “Have you been told? A customer of mine and your parents know each other and--” Sojiro shakes his head. “Well, not that that matters… Follow me…” Sojiro led Akira to a small set stairs a little further into the café.

They walked up the stairs and Akira glance around at the open space. It was a little messy and in the corner was a small and dusty bed.

“This is your room." Sojiro explained. "I’ll at least give you sheets for you bed.”

 _So I’ll be staying in the café?_ Akira refrained from frowning. It wasn’t very ideal, especially since he would be spending a year there... _Still it's enough that he would take me in at all. All things considered._

“You look like you wanna say something.” Sojiro startled Akira out of his thoughts. 

“It’s big.” Which was the nicest thing he could come up with. Sojiro nodded.

“It’s on you to clean up the rest. I’ll be leaving after I lock up each day. You’ll be alone at night, but don’t do anything stupid. I’ll throw you out if you cause any trouble. Now then…” Sojiro noticeably straightened. Making Akira feel uneasy. “I got the gist of your situation. You protected some woman from a man forcing himself on her, he got injured, then sued you, right?” Akira glanced down ashamed. Sojiro’s voice turned bitter. “That’s what you get for sticking your nose in a matter between two adults. You did injure him, yeah?” Akira didn’t answer. Akira hadn’t injured him. _He fell._ But that detail didn’t seem to matter. “...And now that you’ve got a criminal record, you were expelled from your high school.” Akira swallowed, a bitter taste in his throat. “The courts ordered you to transfer and move out here, which your parents also approved.”

Akira remembered the conversations well. The shouts from his normally level-headed parents echoed in his brain. The tears of his mother. The following suffocating silence from his father. These thoughts flared up a frustration in Akira. It tore him up inside. If he hadn't stepped in... he wouldn't have put his family through this whole mess. Even if they never told him, he still felt responsibility for what had happened. He took a deep breath to maintain composure. Nothing would change what he had done. This was his punishment.

“In other words, they got rid of you for being a pain in the ass.” Akira bit back his tongue. Sojiro didn’t know what he was talking about. “It’s best for you to not talk about anything unnecessary.” Sojiro explained and Akira lost the faint flame in his gut. “I am in the restaurant business, you know.” Sojiro begins to lecture her. “Behave yourself for the year. If nothing happens, your probation will be lifted.”

Akira nodded . _A whole year…_

“We’ll be going to Shujin Academy tomorrow. Shujin, the school you’ll be attending. We’ll introduce ourselves properly to the staff there. There’s rarely a place that’ll accept someone like you, you know.”

Akira nodded again as Sojiro muttered annoyed. “What a waste of my Sunday…” He turned around. “Your ‘luggage’ arrived earlier; I left them over there.” He pointed over to the box of stuff near the worn-out couch. Sojiro walked down the stairs and Akira looked around the empty room. He placed down his bags and went over to the box.

It was neatly packed full of clothes and other things of his. Among them Akira's old uniform. He picked it up. Attached to the arm, a red ribbon, a signature of his second-year status. Ribbons at his school were typically a girl’s thing, but Akira didn't care. He liked how it looked and in a way it was like a badge of pride to him, to show his place in the school. He clutched the ribbon tightly.

This was all he had left of his old life. He spent too long huddled over the uniform... thinking back to how excited he was to start the new year. _I didn't even get to wear it for long._ He sighed and placed it away. This room was too dirty for his liking, it was time to clean. 


	2. Settling in

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Akira calls his mom.

It had taken longer than expected and he still had a few spots that needed to be dusted, but it was a good place to pause. Akira finished up cleaning and placed the last of his things away. He heard Sojiro come up the steps.

“What the heck? I heard you making all sorts of noise up here, but I didn’t think you were cleaning.” 

“Oh I’m sorry. I’ll be quieter from now on.” Akira apologized, growing a bit sheepish. 

Sojiro looked around, surprisingly pleased.“Actually this place doesn’t look too bad.” Sojiro paused. “Though it’s only natural you’d want to keep your room tidy.” Akira gave him a quiet nod. “Why don’t you go to bed for tonight? I’m going to close up shop and get out of here myself. I won’t be the one looking after you if you get sick from staying up too late, you got that?” Sojiro went back down. Patiently, Akira waited for him to leave before he pulled out his phone.

He called his mom. “Hey Mom.”

A bright voice greeted him. “Akira! It’s so good to hear you! Did you get to your Guardian’s ok? I heard from your father that you had a little trouble earlier.” The sound of his mother's voice eased the tension that had built up. 

He smiled and answered, sheepishly running his hand through his hair. “Yeah I got a little lost… Tokyo is bigger than I thought.” He gave a faint laugh. “And I’m going to miss Sumaru City… I’m going to miss home.” He admitted, his tone shifting. There was a brief pause.

“Akira. You know we love you... right?” His mom sounded pained.

“Of course, but I wished that I could’ve…” He went quiet. 

“I know.” She sighed. His mom didn’t seem to know what to say either. “I’m sure you’re tired. I’ll let you go. Keep us updated on how things are going, okay? I love you Akira.” She told him.

“Love you too.” Akira hung up and went to bed. 

Even in his dreams, Akira felt like a criminal. The memory of the day his life changed still haunted him. _That day…_ He had ended up staying at school later than usual and he had just hung up with his mom. He walked down the street and heard a woman calling for help. When he turned to look who it was, he spotted a woman trying to pull herself away from a bald man with glasses. The man was obviously drunk and very aggressive. _I have to help her._ He couldn’t just stand there doing nothing. His body moved toward them before he could process what he was doing. The man pushed her aside as he spat and approached Akira. Then…

Akira jolted awake, his phone buzzed. He thought it was a text, but nothing. He sighed and was about to place his phone down until he spotted a familiar red icon on his screen. _Weird…_ He thought and then deleted it and slowly slipped back to sleep.


	3. School tour

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Akira visits Shujin Academy for the first time.

As was often the case, Akira woke up early. The dream he had before was weird, but he just accounted it to being under stress. He glanced over what he could find about Shoujin and made both mental and physical notes about the school’s rules, which luckily was available online. When he was ready he went down to the café, surprising a Sojiro who had just walked in.

On the way there, Akira made sure to take several notes on how to get to school. He had a bad sense of direction and would rather not see what would happen if he ended up late.

Sojiro turned to Akira as they reached the school gate. “Do me a favor and behave yourself all right?” Akira nodded. “Don’t get me wrong--I don’t care what happens to you. Just don’t cause me any trouble.” Sojiro told him, cold and brief.

Akira sighed. _I have a feeling we’re not gonna get along._

Shujin was… different than Akira's other school. Seven Sisters High School was older, aged finely by time and incredibly difficult. It was prestigious… this one… was normal? He hadn’t expected the modern architecture or the casual feel. As he entered the school, he couldn't help wonder if the school was supposed to be a part of his punishment or if he was supposed to be grateful that at least someone took him in... Maybe it was both. 

The two stood in front of the principal’s desk. The principle, a large and stout figure sat glaring at Akira. Akira remained neutral, even though the sight of him made Akira want to gag. He needed to be professional. Sojiro filled out some paperwork while Akira endured the unpleasant gazes of the staff there.

“To reiterate, just so we’re clear, you will immediately be expelled if you cause any problems.” The principal addressed him. Akira nodded politely. “Honestly, I hesitated on accepting someone like you, but there were some circumstances on our side. You might have done a variety of things in hiding in your hometown but you will behave yourself here.”

The principal didn’t know Akira. Akira was fine. He wasn't a delinquent or a troublemaker. He was fine until… _It wasn’t my fault._ Akira brushed the thought away, keeping up a calm posture as the poor excuse for a principal continued to lecture him.

“If you are thrown out from our school, there will be no place for you to go. Keep that in mind.” The principal turned to a woman who had been waiting behind him and glaring at Akira. “This is the teacher in charge of your class.” The principal gestured to her.

“I’m Sadayo Kawakami.” She spoke politely and handed him a card. “Here’s your student ID.” He took it into his hand. “Be sure to read the school rules. Any violations will send you straight to the guidance office. And, if by chance you cause any problems, I won’t be able to protect you at all.” Akira didn’t expect her to anyway. “That IS your promise, yes, Principal Kobayakawa?” She turned to the principal at the desk.

“He is responsible for all his actions.” The principal spoke. Ms. Kawakami sighed and glanced to side as she spoke. “But really though, why me…? There should’ve been better candidates.”

Akira felt a slight ping of embarrassment and shame at her reaction. It was official Akira had actually hit a new low. He was never a bad kid. He always did well in his academics and even though he never went out with friends much, he was generally well-liked.

“We’ll be sure to have a serious talk about the situation he’s in.” Akira straightened a bit as Sojiro spoke up.

“Come to the faculty office when you arrive at school tomorrow. I’ll show you to your classroom.” Akira nodded as Ms. Kawakami addressed him.

With the paperwork finished Sojiro and Akira walked out of the room. Akira withheld the impulse to give out a relieved sigh.

“They’re treating you like some kinda nuisance.” Sojiro sighs as he stops to rub the back of his head. Akira just gave a nod. It seemed like it was going to be a common theme for his time here. “I guess that’s what it means to have a criminal record. Turns out your past follows you wherever you go.” Sojiro seemed… sympathetic? Akira watched him curiously, noting the a strange kindness in his eyes... but as soon as it was there. Sojiro hardened up and then talked to him harshly. “By the way… if you get expelled now, I won’t hesitate to kick you out. Got it?”

Akira gulped and then responded politely. “Of course.”

Sojiro watched him for a moment.

“School never changes, huh…?” Sojiro made his way out of the school. “Come on, we’re going home.” Akira followed close behind.

 _Home huh?_ Akira frowned and pulled up his phone. _More like prison._ Could he really make it a year there? 

**Author's Note:**

> Things to note  
> 1\. Akira went to the High school from Persona 2.  
> 2\. Akira is a bit pretentious.  
> 3\. Akira is demiromantic asexual  
> 4\. Akira is terrible at directions.


End file.
